Fódlan Alternative II

{Part Two: Silver Snow} Chapter Twenty-Two: Bones and Blood I

You awaken at the beginning of the next moon and begin to prepare for the day ahead. Seraphine speaks to You all the while.

Seraphine: Now that Evenor is gone, the only major general left for us to defeat is Samiya...

You say that You hope the scouts are able to find her soon.

Seraphine: I hope so as well. We weren't really able to sink our teeth into a search of the Empire after we had to fight Evenor, but now that we've taken the first step, I hope that we'll be able to spread out from there. Surely the spies working with each of the armies will help us to make progress sooner rather than later.

You nod your agreement.

Seraphine: For now though, I want to hear a bit more about the Crest mystery Evenor brought up before. She was convinced that the Crests would have been able to do something more than we realized to defeat our forces. I don't know what that could mean though... We've had a lot of people with Crests on our side all this time, and we still find ourselves struggling. What exactly could we be missing about their power?

You say that Aisa seems to be able to answer that question.

Seraphine: All the more reason for us to go talk to her then. Let's hear what she has to say.

You move to the cardinals' room at that, and Seraphine's voice fades away. When You arrive at the cardinals' room, You find Cordelia and Roy examining the map as per usual.

Roy: Nothing in the immediate area around Gronder, it seems... I had been hoping Samiya would be in the same general area as Evenor, though I suppose that was a vain hope. I suppose we'll just have to send our spies out a bit farther.

Cordelia: They'll have to split up in order to cover ground like that, but a move of that scale is going to put everyone in danger. Even if it takes us longer, we need to be methodical and minimize casualties among our informants.

Herwig: Perhaps we should start by moving south towards the capital. I don't know where Samiya could be, but I feel like it's important for us to learn as much as we can about the main road south.

Reese: I agree. We can send out a few other informational parties later on, but figuring out all we can about what's happening between here and Enbarr should be our main priority, especially since nobody is in control down there.

Jill: We're going to want to head there when we can anyway. Since Argades died out here at the monastery, the people don't know that the princess is still alive and ready to resume the throne. It might be for the best to head south and ensure the transition of the crown runs smoothly.

Niko: I think Captain Torryn is right about us needing to handle this as carefully as possible, and we have the time to do so. Samiya won't be able to handle our forces on her own. Until we have to actually fight her though, we have a lot to talk about.

Adrian: That's right. After the last battle, you mentioned something that you wanted to talk to us about, Lady Aisa. Things were hectic after Evenor died, so we didn't get the chance to discuss it in full, but now is as good a time as any.

Aisa: Yes... I suppose it is. This is an old tale, one almost as old as the Adrestian Empire itself. I would ask that you prepare yourselves.

Nesreen: This is about an unknown power of the Crests, isn't it?

Aisa: It is.

Nesreen: Good to know the Crests are still causing problems for us even now. I had been hoping that we wouldn't need to think about them as much with much more important matters on our hands, but it seems not.